My 84 year old Dad who has Alzheimers, is starting to wake up a lot during the night. My Mom who is 85 gets up each time with him, and puts him back to bed. Needless to say,this getting up every night is wearing her out. Can we give Dad an OTC sleeping med? We will call his Neurologist tomorrow to ask also. Was wondering. Or maybe some of you have gone through this and have some advice. They both need their sleep. Thank you.

Deb's mom had her night and day mixed up and she gave her melatonin . I do believe it took a bit to get going but it worked. I think she gave it to her as a tea around 7 or 8 at night. If deb does not chime in check out a search here on melatonin. Yes mom needs her sleep, you do not need both of them needing care. when they get up at night they can be so disoriented and may start to wander, make sure there are good locks on all doors so dad can not get outside.

My mom has probable Lewy Body dementia and while she doesn't hallucinate, she has REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in which she thrashes and yells out in her sleep. What helps is a very small dose (.5mg) of clonazepam (Klonopin) about 30 minutes before bed. It's a benzodiazepine like valium or Ativan.

It really helps her get more restful sleep. When she had a stay in the hospital and rehab last summer they took her off it, said she wasn't anxious or agitated, assuming it was prescribed for mood problems. When I told them that it was for RSBD they said she'd been fine, no need to worry. That very night she went totally nuts in her sleep and terrified her roommate. Needless to say, they put her right back on the med and she was fine again. It's a prescription, ask any doc about it.